


A Strange Situation

by breeisonfire



Series: TAG prompt fics [25]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen, i am suffering, i wrote this while cotton eyed joe was stuck in my head, the brOTP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 19:17:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15468207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breeisonfire/pseuds/breeisonfire
Summary: akireyta asked "82, the brotp"





	A Strange Situation

**Author's Note:**

> 82\. "I trust you."

It’s a bit of a strange situation.

Normally, John’s on Thunderbird Five, with a bit of distance. Sometimes, that distance is a real pain in the ass, but usually, it helps him focus. See the big picture. Come up with solutions and keep calm - or at least pretend like he’s calm. It’s getting harder to do so.

_Normally_ , Lady Penelope also has a bit of distance between her and real danger. She’s very capable of taking care of herself, and the times she’s one of the rescuees, she’s usually in complete control.

This is not a normal situation.

“John,” that’s Alan’s voice. Today, Alan’s on Thunderbird Five, and it’s very clear to everyone that it’s killing him. Still, he’s holding it together. He sounds like he wants to jump in the space elevator and hijack Thunderbird Shadow, but his instructions have been clear and firm. “How you two doing?”

“Could be better,” John says through gritted teeth. He can feel Penny’s grip on him tighten, just for a moment, as the wall they’re clinging to trembles again. She’s in a harness, attached to his own, but that isn’t stopping her from nearly strangling him.

“You’ve got about three hundred feet to go,” Alan says. “Gordon’s waiting below in Thunderbird Four, he’s cleared a path to get you out.”

“F-A-B,” John says. “Are we clear?”

“You’re clear,” Alan confirms. “Virgil’s working on stabilizing the tunnels above you. It seems to be working. Or at least, no more rocks are falling.”

That’s a relief. It’s been a while since John’s rappelled down anything, and even longer since he’s had to dodge rocks while doing so. If he’s ever had to. He doesn’t think he has.

He kind of wishes he hadn’t gotten out of bed today.

_Normally_ it would have been Gordon who went with Penny on her World Heritage expeditions. He likes going with her, and he’s good at handling the situations that pop up. John has never envied him. Penny attracts trouble.

But Gordon had been mid-rescue, and apparently this area spends most of the year flooded. It had been one of the only days it was declared safe to go inside. Parker had put his foot down on letting her inside without at least one member of International Rescue with her, even if he _was_ along. Penny had resorted to underhanded tactics to dragging John all the way out here.

It’s unfortunate how easily he was persuaded. Almost pathetic, really.

Apparently, ‘safe’ had been a relative term, and the tunnels had actually been very unstable. It hadn’t been noticeable higher up, but as they went deeper, it became more obvious. Even Penny had to admit that it wasn’t safe anymore, and they’d turned to go back.

It had been too late.

The cave-in was a big blur for John. He remembers pulling Penny after him and losing track of Parker and their guides. There was a brief moment where he was sure he blacked out. He’d inhaled a lungful of dust and coughed a good portion of it up. Even now, he can taste the dirt. His mouth and eyes feel gritty.

Once he gets back to the island, he’s going to shower, and he’s _never getting out_.

Penny’s been mostly quiet since they’d gotten confirmation Parker was okay. He’d been the one to sound the alarm to Tracy Island, before John had even had a chance to contact them. John had a feeling Penny might have hit her head, though there wasn’t any blood.

Small miracles, he supposes. The universe owes them a few, at this point.

Virgil had been unable to dig down to them, but Gordon had found a way to them through tunnels of water below. He’s been swearing up a storm on the comms; the tunnels are narrow and his visibility was low. But he’d done it, and now he’s waiting below them, ready for evac whenever they reach him.

Which is proving to be a problem.

Lady Penelope is an incredibly strong and capable woman, but she’s always had a small fear of falling. She’s never outright admitted it, but John’s got a similar fear. He can tell. And so rappelling has been an exercise in her ability to pretend she’s not scared and John’s ability to pretend like everything’s perfectly fine.

It’s been exhausting. John’s wondering if he’s going to have bruises from how hard she’s holding onto him. She’s attached to her own line and him, so she’s not going to fall. She could honestly be rappelling down on her own, instead of clinging to him and making this harder.

John’s decided not to point that out. She’s stressed and he values being alive, thank you.

Still.

“Penny,” he says. “I can’t breathe.”

“Oh, hush,” Penny says, directly in his ear. “I’m not squeezing you that hard.”

John rolls his eyes. “Uh-huh. I’m not going to let you fall.”

She doesn’t answer straight away. She’s quiet long enough that John starts to get worried and wishes he could see her face.

Then, very quietly, “I know. I trust you.”

All of his irritation abruptly leaves him. She sounds smaller than John’s ever heard her sound. He’s never seen her like this. She’s likely frustrated, at the situation and at herself, for allowing herself to be this ‘weak.’ John’s never really thought of fear making someone weak, but he knows it’s different in her world.

He takes a deep breath. “Right. Hold on tight, okay? But not that tight. I still need to be able to breathe.”

She huffs. “Now, really, John, you’re being dramatic.”

John smiles, though she can’t see it. _Now_ she sounds more like herself. “I’m really not.”

She taps the back of his head twice. “Mush.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Onward, noble steed.”

“ _Penny_.”

“Just trying to lighten the mood.”

Now it’s his turn to huff, but he’s smiling and they both know it. “If you say so.”

He prefers this to her being too quiet, anyway. Not that he’ll admit that out loud. He does have a little bit of dignity left.

Probably, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm accepting prompts on my [tumblr](http://drdone.tumblr.com) if you wanna hit me up!


End file.
